Surgical staplers typically employ an anvil having staple pockets defined therein. Staples are pushed out of a staple cartridge through a section of tissue and against the staple pockets, the staple pockets being shaped so as to receive and progressively bend the legs of the staple into a closed position. More specifically, upon the firing of a staple firing mechanism of a surgical stapler, the staples are pushed out of the cartridge so that the legs of the staples penetrate a section of tissue and proceed into the respective staple pockets. Continuous operation of a staple firing mechanism causes the staple legs to be received into one end of the staple pocket and to slide along the curved valley of the pocket to bend or form in accordance with the curvature of the staple pocket. Eventually, the legs of each staple are fully bent or formed such that the section of tissue is held between the spine of the staple and the bent staple legs.
One method by which staple pockets are conventionally formed in the anvil of a surgical stapler is by coining. One problem that is encountered by conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets is that the staple pockets are not sufficiently precisely formed, e.g., they do not satisfactorily meet the small tolerances in alignment, depth and smoothness that are desired in surgical staplers. Also, coining does not remove material from the anvil surface in order to form the staple pockets, but rather moves or pushes the anvil material from one location, e.g., the location at which the staple pocket is to be formed, to another location, e.g., often a location immediately surrounding the staple pocket once the staple pocket is formed. Furthermore, the conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets in the anvil of the surgical stapler may cause structure fractures of the anvil, thereby damaging the surgical stapler and adversely effecting the operation of the surgical stapler. Still further, the conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets in the anvil of the surgical stapler may cause the formation of uneven pocket surfaces, causing the surgical stapler to operate ineffectively. Still further, the conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets in the anvil of the surgical stapler may not provide for the formation of different or complex staple pocket shapes. Still further, the conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets in the anvil of the surgical stapler do not provide adequate consistency of the staple pockets over time—for instance, a coining tool when used over a period of time to form numerous staple pockets gradually experiences wear which, over time, may result in the formation of different shaped staple pockets over that period of time. Still further, the conventional methods of forming surgical staple pockets in the anvil of the surgical stapler may not permit the shape of a staple pocket to be easily or quickly modified, because, if a different staple pocket shape is desired, a new coining tool must be designed, fabricated and installed in the coining device.